National Sport

Cook backed to end World Cup woe

Joe Root has excelled in Test cricket of late and is confident he and Alastair Cook have what it takes to underpin England's bid for a first World Cup this winter.

Cook will begin the Royal London Series against India with a point to prove after former team-mates Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan dismissed his credentials as a captain who can help England win in Australia and New Zealand next winter.

Swann and Vaughan are agreed that Cook's mediocre strike rate at the top of the order will put his team on the back foot, even if new recruit Alex Hales is blazing away at the other end.

Even before a ball was bowled against India - the first match was washed out, meaning Hales must wait for his one-day international debut in Cardiff on Wednesday - pundits Vaughan and Swann had Cook in their sights.

But Root, who has had a prolific Test summer with 777 runs at number five to help Cook turn round England's fortunes, has no doubt the opener is the right man too to try to break his country's World Cup duck at last.

"He's our leader in one-day cricket as well as Tests; he's done well over a number of years, and we all back him," Root said.

"He's a fantastic player and has got all of our support."

The young Yorkshireman is equally convinced he and other players, Hales apart, who have proved themselves in the pinnacle format are ready to adapt back to the demands of 50-over cricket.

"Yes, definitely," he said.

"You try to play the situation - sometimes in Test cricket you have to play quickly as well - and I know that we have a very good balance in the side.

"I am really looking forward to this series and hope we can show everyone that we can do that."

Root is encouraged nonetheless that England have an almost undiluted ODI programme up to the start of the World Cup to make sure they are properly attuned.

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"We (can) obviously get into the routine of one-dayers," he said.

"Going through the formats, it's sometimes quite hard to change - especially if you have a good series in one format.

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"You struggle and mix and change and trying to take your confidence into one format is hard.

"But we have the advantage of playing (just) one now, which is brilliant - and I hope we can get into a good place, get some good results, good momentum and take that forward."

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